Tom Telesco, the Chargers' new general manager, took to the podium earlier this week, and the key phrase he used was "TEAM building."

Telesco went on to explain that everything he knows about how to build a team, he learned from his mentor Bill Polian.

Polian has known Telesco since his high school days in Buffalo, where Tom grew up with Bill’s sons. When Telesco decided to get into scouting, it was Polian who hired him in Carolina, then took him for the ride to Indy.

During that time, Telesco was getting his Ph.D. in football from one of the original "football guys."

To understand what Telesco meant about "team building," we went to the source: Bill Polian.

Bill, we asked, what did Telesco mean when he used this phrase?

Polian then explained why the Chargers hired Telesco, because he will be the anti-A.J. Smith.

According to Polian, the general manager must set a tone within the organization of communication and respect. Polian described how the GM must work hand in hand with the head coach building the roster. The GM need not dictate who is in or out, rather consult with the coach as to who the coach needs or wants.

Perhaps, had A.J. been a better student of Bill’s, and he had the chance to be that in Buffalo, he might have consulted with the coach about decisions on key players, and many of them might still be wearing a Chargers uniform.

On the communication front, Polian went on to describe an open-door policy in which players, coaches, trainers and even ball boys, could stop by and talk to the GM.

That didn’t happen with the prior regime, as described by Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers last week, when he said he had virtually zero relationship with A.J.

Point is, this young man, Tom Telesco, will take the Chargers organization, based on who he learned from, and make everyone within it feel like they have ownership, whereas we know how the last GM ruled.

This phrase "team building" is likely what convinced Chargers President Dean Spanos to hire Telesco. Spanos knew there was a lack of organizational unity.

"This job isn’t just about picking players," Spanos said. "How do you make it all work? How do you unify the team? I don’t think we had that.”